Skateboarding is a relatively new sport which has grown in popularity over the years. The first skateboards were simply comprised of roller skating wheels affixed to a piece of wood such as a two by four. In the 1950s, modifications were made to trucks which attach the wheels to the board allowing more maneuverability. By 1959, the first Roller Derby Skateboard was offered for sale and the activity began to climb in popularity, particularly among the surfer crowd. The 1960s saw the introduction of the first professional boards by Makaha as well as the entry of the Hobie skateboard. During this time frame, the first competitions were held, the first skateboard theme movie entitled “Skater Dater” was released, and the first skateboarding magazine titled “The Quarterly Skateboarder” began publishing.
However, the initial craze crashed about 1965. That crash was caused by inferior product combined with reckless skating. The clay wheels used at the time did not grip the road well and thus did not provide a good, safe ride. After several deaths involving skateboarders, a number of cities banned the boards citing health and safety concerns and many manufacturers went out of business. While skateboarding continued in certain areas such as Santa Monica, it was generally a low key, underground activity.
Slowly, improvements were made to the boards. The kicktail and urethane wheels were added circa 1970 thus improving the ride available to the boards. In addition, truck manufacturers began making trucks specifically designed for skateboarding. In the 1970s, precision bearings ended years of problems with the old loose ball bearings. Soon, the sport had regained its popularity. Skateboards grew from about six or seven inches in width to about nine inches thus adding more stability to the product. In view of these improvements, skateboarding has once again become a popular activity.
One of the many modifications made to the trucks is the placement of a soft rubber riser pad between the base of the truck and the skateboard itself Riser pads prevent stress cracks caused by the metal to wood contact between truck and skateboard. In addition, riser pads compact and add resistance to help keep the mounting screws tight and the truck tightly fastened to the skateboard. Lastly, by lifting the skateboard body slightly higher above the wheels, the riser pad prevents most instances of wheel bite wherein the wheel contacts the underside of the skateboard during extreme maneuvers.
However, the soft rubber riser pad of the prior art does cause its own set of problems. Specifically, the soft rubber commonly contacts concrete, wood or other obstacles during certain maneuvers such as rail, ledge or bench sliding. The soft rubber surface does not slide well and thus slows down or stops the slide prematurely. In addition, some of the soft rubber riser pads are locked into place and cannot be adjusted forward or backward at any time.
Further, when executing the more difficult sliding tricks, the urethane wheels connected to the trucks often come into contact with the obstacles such as ledges, rails and benches used for sliding. The soft urethane wheels do not slide well if at all against the obstacle. Such contact often damages those wheels, requiring repair or replacement of same. For purposes of this specification, the term “outboard” refers to those two longitudinal sections of the board which are positioned outside of the two trucks, both rearward and forward of the trucks though the terms rearward and forward are interchangeable with modern skateboards.
One solution to the aforementioned problems is the use of a slide plate as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,443,471 entitled “Skateboard Truck Assembly” which issued on Sep. 3, 2002 to Mullen. However, the slide plate of Mullen is only built into Mr. Mullen's TENSOR® brand of skateboard trucks and are not adapted for use with any other truck or riser pad.
Thus there is a need for a universal replaceable slider plate apparatus for use with skateboard riser pads or trucks which also provides a greater buffer zone between the truck/wheels friction with any obstacle and thereby eliminate any ledge to soft rubber riser pad contact.
None of the known prior art disclose the combination set forth herein.